One Year Ago ...Alaska: Endicott Arm Fjord

I found this post from our Alaska trip last June that I forgot to post. So here is where Dave and I were one year ago: cruising Alaska, seeing Endicott Arm Fjord while I was pregnant with Adelyn. Fun memories!

Alaska: Sunbathing

Sunbathing in Alaska. Enough said.

Alaska: Ketchikan

Our next port in Alaska was the town of Ketchikan (or maybe it wasn't the next port... it's been two months since the cruise, so the order of ports is starting to get hazy). We arrived in port at 6:00 am and had to be back on the boat by 11:30... yeah, not exactly a long time to see everything. But we did our best to cram it all in. We went on a 6:30 am shore excursion to go sea kayaking in the ocean around the Eagle Islands. We got on a bus, drove out north of the town and piled on all of the requisite gear: rain slickers, life jackets, and a spray skirt. I'm not usually a huge morning person and the weather was overcast, but the kayaking was a blast. The water (not glacier run-off this time) was actually reasonably warm, although we mostly just got it on our hands/arms from paddling.

Despite the early hour, the kayaking trip was awesome! It was low tide (which in Alaska is a difference of 20 feet) so we saw lots of sea stars, sea cucumbers and other sea life. We even saw two bald eagles fighting in mid-air. When we got back we went to look around Ketchikan and saw that there were tickets still available for the last "The Great American Logger's Show" before we had to be back on the boat, so we went. We got to see Team USA vs. Team Canada compete in log-chopping, pole-climbing, and even log rolling (where they see who can stay up on a rolling log the longest while the other tries to splash water in their face or do anything besides touch them to get them to fall down). Yo-ho! (That's what they have you yell when your team scores). Then it was back on the boat.

Alaska: Skagway

One of my very favorite parts of our Alaska trip was our stop in Skagway. A lot of this probably had to do with the fact that it was a beautiful, gorgeous, sunny day which just made the scenery all the more beautiful. In general, the color scheme of Alaska reminded me of the winters here in the Northwest- grey skys and green tree-covered hills - except that in Alaska everything is 10x bigger-- instead of hills they have huge mountains and cliffs. Alaska also shares a trait with the Northwest that while it is pretty in its usual grey/green color scheme, when the sun decides to show its face it is just breathtaking.

We walked around Skagway a little bit and passed the usual slew of jewelry stores (in a teeny 10,000 person town?). Then we went on a shore excursion on the "White Pass Scenic Railway." The train line was built to take people to the Yukon in the gold rush. It was later used for cargo and now is used for tourists. We didn't go all the way to the Yukon-- although we did cross over into Canada (but I didn't get to use my passport). The scenery was absolutely exquisite: the pictures don't even begin to do it justice. There were huge towering snow-covered mountains, waterfalls and rivers, and trees everywhere, all shimmering in the sunlight (you can tell I have lived in the Northwest long enough that sunlight is a prized commodity in my book). =]

Dave and I kept going out on the platform to enjoy the air and the view and I inadvertently discovered why you hold your breath going through a tunnel: if you are out on a train platform, you HAVE to hold your breath when you go through a tunnel if you don't want to inhale smoke and train fumes.

During the trip, they had some narration about the history of the railway and the Yukon gold rush. As we went past a rocky canyon, they explained that in order to cross the border into Canada, a miner had to have a year's worth of supplies with him, so many of them had to go up and down that rocky canyon twenty or even thirty times to transport all of their goods. After enduring horrible hardship and harrowing terrain, the lucky prospector finally made it to Yukon Territory only to find out that all the claims had been staked already. (Note to self: Don't ever join a gold rush.)

After our excursion we walked around Skagway a bit more and bought some souvenirs, fudge and ice cream cones (Isn't it funny how every single tourist site in the universe has a place to buy fudge and ice cream cones? There must be some sight-seeing reflex that triggers a "need fudge... need ice cream" response.). We enjoyed the sun, took some pictures and then went back to the dock.

I took a picture of the ship docked to try to capture how enormous it really is. It holds 2500 people (and kind of looks kind of like the starship Enterprise to me). This picture isn't actually isn't our cruise ship -ours was docked behind it-, but it's one that is the exact same size/model. There were 3 or 4 cruise ships docked in Skagway while we are there... it probably doubled the population. Then it was back to our boat, to enjoy the endless supply of food and activities.

Alaska: Juneau

So now that it is almost two months after the fact, I'm going to finally get around to writing about our cruise. In June, while the kids were at my parents house, I flew from CA to Seattle and Dave drove to Seattle. We met up and boarded the "Golden Princess," a gargantuan cruise ship that was going to take us through the Alaska inside passage.

We were planning on getting lunch in Seattle, but we were late and had to head straight to the dock. We were worried about whether we would be able to last until dinner with no lunch. We needn't have worried: we were an a cruise ship... your source for non-stop 24/7 food. We started by hitting the buffet for some lunch, which was only the first in a nonstop onslaught of dining choices. For some reason I had pictured it that you show up, slide your card through, you get to pick 1 from the selection of entrees... no, no, no. Basically anywhere and everywhere there is food. And when you go to the dining room you can order whatever you want, as many as you want. I could tell this was going to be dangerous... especially for a pregnant woman.

The first two days I managed to have only 3 bites of dessert. But then I gave up and just enjoyed myself the rest of the trip. Our first full day on the ship was at sea. It was formal night, so I got to pull out the AWESOME maternity formal that my mom whipped up for me while I was in California. Between shows and dance clubs and a GREAT comedian, there was plenty to do on board.

Our first port was Juneau, Alaska. For some reason, I had pictured the capital of Alaska as... bigger. It is only about 30,000 people and cannot be reached by road from the mainland. The scenery is breathtaking-- the town has the backdrop of huge snow-covered green mountains and cliffs with waterfalls. However, the cultural and architectural attractions of the city were... more sparse. Let's just say, that if the 3rd item on the list of recommended "Things to Do in Juneau" from the cruise ship is to "see the famous statue of a deaf dog," you're not exactly an up-and-happening place. But the attraction in Alaska is definitely the scenery-- which is breathtaking.

The actual towns (or what you can see with them in walking distance from a cruise ship) that we stopped at in Alaska were pretty similar. There are bunches of souvenir shops close to the dock and each town has a historic saloon (typically with "red" in the name: "The Red Onion," "The Red Garter," etc.). Some of the towns even have a historic brothel (now defunct, of course). I'm not sure why, but every single town we went to was overflowing with jewelry stores. Apparently we were the only people who didn't get the memo that people go to Alaska not to see glaciers or nature, but to BUY JEWELRY. Oops.

We pretty much stuck to the nature sight-seeing. In Juneau we did a whitewater rafting float from Mendenhall Glacier back to Juneau. Water activities in Alaska entail full-fledged chest-boots and rain slickers (given that the water was glacier runoff and around 35 degrees). The glacier was beautiful and we even got a few real rapids going down the river.

After our river-rafting, we walked around Juneau and went to an old Russian Orthodox church (built in Russia, shipped here and re-assembled). We even found a store selling Russian candy and treats. Dave got to chat with the owner in her native tongue. Then it was back to the ship for more food, fun and relaxation.

Dressing Up

I haven't posted for a few days, so I guess I'm trying to make up for it by doing a bunch of posts all at once.

The kids and I are here on our extended California trip for a reason: Dave and I are leaving on Saturday to go on a cruise to Alaska. Mom is going to watch the kids here and I will fly up to Seattle to meet Dave. After the cruise, I will fly back here to visit until 4th of July, at which point Dave will join up again with us and we will drive home (at least that's the current plan).

It's funny, because while seeing Alaska has always sounded fun, it hasn't exactly been top on my "must visit destinations" list. But, we found an amazing deal on the cruise, we wanted to find an excuse to get a trip without kids before the new baby comes, and the idea of a no-planning, everything-included vacation sounded perfect, so we just decided to go for it.

The cruise has two "formal nights," which would be really fun except that I don't really have any formals. This is further complicated by the fact that I am pregnant. Is there really such a thing as a flattering maternity formal? Um, unless it fits perfectly... big bump + glitz and fabric= sparkly elephant tent. You add to this that I'm trying to find a relatively modest formal (sleeves, please?) and I don't want to spend a bunch (nordstrom.com has beautiful ones for half the price of my cruise ticket but that kinda defeats the purpose) and that really leaves me with few options.

I had pretty much admitted defeat-- I would have to try to dress up my plain black maternity dress with some glitzy jewelry. But my mom insisted that this was just not right-- you have to have a formal for formal night. Luckily for me, my mother is not just opinionated: she is also an amazing seamstress and can make almost anything with a picture to copy. So she is designing and making me a maternity formal for the cruise. This is after we found a great dressy little black dress (that still fits and looks decent over my bump) for an amazing deal and she added sleeves to it.

My inherited sewing talent tops out at making pajamas, but hey, if you aren't blessed with a talent you can always appreciate it in others, right? =]